Thursday, December 27, 2007

-----Saturday night, December 22, 2007 many people from the Youngstown Community came together to celebrate "Nut Night". Nut Night began in 1977 when the Moxie Cooperative Community decided to share in the festivities of the winter break without engaging in religious celebrations. Each member of the collective chose a festival day named for their favorite aspect of the season. The result: Tangerines, Avocados, Popcorn,Pomegranates, Evergreens, and Nuts -TAPPEN - and the six day celebration they called TAPPENfest. The second day was set aside to pay special tribute to Nuts by inviting them all to a drop-in party at the collective house on Wick Avenue, where yours truly currently resides. Nut Night was celebrated every year until 1990, when most of the collective members had dispersed. It was rekindled once more in 2000, and this past December 22, marked the first celebration of Nut Night since then. Nut Night is hosted by a mythological character named Hazel (the nut). When Nut Night is in the offing, a poem is written by Jean Engel in honor of Hazel. Here it is in its entirety:

Hazel sat a while in thought,

Her look concerned, but not distraught

I think," she finally said aloud,

"I'm 'spozed to be somewhere."

Once upon a time, you know,

Hazel was the downtown show,

A nut of parts she was, they say-

Philosopher-queen of the streets.

Hazel's downtown boomed, then busted,

First it thrived and then it rusted.

For twenty winters many cried,

"This place is going nowhere!"

But Hazel said, "You can't give in

To hopelessness. We'll never win.

We need to dance, we need to sing,

And rebuild hope together."

And all that wisdom Hazel preached

For all those years has finally reached

Into the Youngstown soul and

Engendered transformation.

Said she, "I think it's time to go

and celebrate, put on a show,

Hang out with my nutty friends,

As I was so fond of doing.

And as she rose and wheeled her cart

her step was light, as was her heart.

"Twas time to find the magic place

Where Nut Night was in progress.

Hazel may be nuts, we know,

Like lug and pea and grape and dough,

But she's got Moxie in her soul,

and that has made the difference.

-------So you ask, " What does this wonderful celebration,and associated poem have to do with Scrooge's Auto Shop and Municipal Ordinances?" Well, as you can imagine a celebration such as Nut Night requires many hands to assist in the preparations. Being a supporter of the Time Bank of the Mahoning Watershed I withdrew some help from my account. I can't say enough wonderful things about the help I received. She worked for many hours in the kitchen on Nut Night, and when most of the guests had left and only a few of us remained, she went to get in her car, and it was no where to be found. A bit shocked she came back to the house and sought our help. We asked her where she parked and she said that she had parked at the edge of a parking lot at an auto shop down the street. We couldn't imagine why the owner of the shop would have had the car towed. It is not a busy shop, and actually there is little activity there at all, and for all practical purposes appears to be abandoned. You can see this from the photo posted on the blog.

-------We put in a call to the police to ask if they knew of a tow from the auto shop. At first they denyed knowledge of any such tow, but after some checking the officer came back to the phone and confirm it was so. I asked her why. She said because the owner of the property had reported it as an abandoned vehicle. We asked her where the car was towed and what would be required to get it back. She said that we would need to get a release from the police department and then go to the tow company to retrieve the car. She said we would not be able to get a release that night as no one was at the police department to write one up.

-------Several of us sat around pondering this situation and decided to look up tow-away zone in the Youngstown Municipal Ordinances, because Scrooge's Auto Shop did not have a "No Parking" sign posted. What we found was the "Auto Shop" was not in compliance with the requirements for a tow-away zone. Section 303.082 Private Tow-Away Zones of the Municpal Code states:

(a) The owner of private property may establish a private tow-away zone only if all of the following conditions are satisfied:

(1) The owner posts on the owner's property a sign, that is at least eighteeen inches by twenty-four inches in size, that is visible from all entrances to the property and that contains at least all of the following information:

A. A notice that the property is a private tow-away zone and that vehicles not authorized to park on teh property will be towed away;

B. The telephone number of the person from whom a towed-away vehicle can be recovered, and the address of the place to which the vehicle will be taken and the place from wich it may be recovered;

C. A statement that the vehicle may be recovered at any time during the day or night upon the submission of proof of ownership and the payment of a towing charge, in an amount not to exceed ninety dollars ($90.00) and a storage charge, in an amount not to exceed twelve dollars ($12.00) per twenty-four hour period; except that the charge for towing shall not exceed one hundred fifty dollars ($1150.00) and the storage chartge shall not exceed twenty dollars ($20.00) per twenty-four hour period, if the vehicle has a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating in excess of 10,000 pounds and is a truck, bus, or a combination of a commercial tractor and trailer or semitrailer.

-------The next morning upon waking, blood pressure already rising, I called the YPD again. I spoke with a very nice shift commander, who after I explained the situation, said that I could come down to the station and get a release. (This was Sunday and I was later to find out that this was special). I asked the commander if he could do anything about the fees that the tow company was certain to charge. He said that he would call the tow company and then call me back with the results. He called back within moments and said that much to his surprise the dispatcher for the tow company had said that no one was at the tow yard to release the car. He told me that he was under the impression that a person was supposed to be able to get their car day or night. I said that he was indeed correct per the above code section 303.082 (1)(C).

-------We decided to go to the station to get the release so that we would have plenty of time in the morning to retrieve the car. We were concerned because Monday was Christmas Eve and thought that perhaps the tow company would close early. While at the station getting the release, I also secured a copy of the police report. The police report indicated that the owner of the Auto Shop had called the police department on Saturday to report the abandoned vehicle. The police went to the shop and spoke with the owner who stated that the car had been parked in his lot since approximately 1400 hours that day. The officer approved the tow of the vehicle for safe keeping.

-------When I returned home from the station with the police report in hand, I decided that the situation required further research into what constitutes an abandoned vehicle. This is what I found in Section 303.08 Impounding of Vehicles; Redemption:

(a) Police officers are authorized to provide for the removal of a vehicle under the following circumstances:

(1) When any vehicle is left unattended upon any street, bridge, or causeway and is illegally parked.

(2) When any vehicle is left on public or private property without permission and upon complaint of the private or public property owner, or on a public street or upon or within the right of way of any road or highway, for FORTY EIGHT CONSECUTIVE HOURS OR LONGER, (my emphasis), without notification to the Police Chief of the reasons for leaving such vehicle in such place. Prior to disposal of an "Abandoned junk motor vehicle" as defined in Ohio R.C. 4513.63, it shall be photographed by a law enforcement officer.

(3) When any vehicle has been stolen or oeprated without consent of the owner and is located upon either public or private property.

(4) When any vehicle displays illegal license plates or fails to display the current lawfully required plates and is located ulpon any public street or other property open to the public for purposes of vehicular travel or parking.

(5) When any vehicle has been used in or connected with the commission of a felony and is located upon either public or private property.

(6) When any vehicle has been damaged or wrecked so as to be inoperable or violates equipment...

-------Well perhaps by now you have come to the same conclusion that I did, the Scrooge of the Auto Shop had reported an abandoned vehicle in his parking lot at 1400 hours (approximately 2:00 in the afternoon) on December 22, 2007, the police completed their report at 20:00 hours, which means that the vehicle had been sitting for no more than six hours, a far cry from the 48 hours required by law. From this information one would conclude that the police officers of the YPD do not know the city ordinances. One would think that upon their arrival at the scene and upon running the plates on the vehicle, and conluding that the vehicle was not stolen, that they would have explained to Scrooge that they could not approve a tow, because for starters he doesn't have the proper signage for a tow away zone, and two, the car had not been in the lot for the required 48 hours. This of course would require that the officer know the Y-town ordinances.

-------...and so we waited, until Monday morning, Christmas Eve, and at 8:00 am I called the tow company to find out where they are located, and their hours. I was told by the dispatch person that no one was available at the lot to release the car. I explained to the dispatcher in a rather assertive voice, (I did not fail to identify myself as an attorney), that I wanted to speak with a person in a position of authority and I wanted to speak with them soon. She said that she would see what she could do.

-------Several moments later, I received a call from a person I presume was in charge of the tow company. She immediately began screaming at me, and said that I had been rude to her dispatcher. I explained to her that I was not rude but rather assertive because I believed that someone should be at the lot to release the car. I quoted the Section 303.08 to her. The section about how a tow company should be open twenty four hours a day for the release of vehicles. She said that the company does not abide by that rule, because what was the point of being open if a release couldn't be obtained from the police department from 4:00 pm on Friday until Monday. I explained to her that I had actually obtained the release on Sunday. She informed me that I must be special. I explained to her that the commander had been a bit surprised that the tow company wasn't open. I said to her that it would seems that the tow company was in violation of not only the law but their contract. She informed me that they did not have a contract with the City. (To this I say, hmmmmm. A story on this for another day). When I said that she was clearly in violation of the law, she said that the law must be for Boardman or Poland or something because that wasn't the rule in Youngstown. I informed her that I was reading from the Youngstown ordinances. She said, "well you know those people just get together and make up rules that they expect the rest of us to follow", I said, "Do you mean city council?" She said , "Yes". (hmmmm....I say again, yet another blog story for another day.) After some wrangling, I did manage to negotiate a deal with her to release the car for forty dollars (the cost of the tow itself) and no storage fees. Later... the car was released.

-------The moral of this story if there is one, or several, is that some people, in this case, Scrooge of the Auto Shop, do not care if they ruin other's holidays. Saturday night he surely noticed many cars parked up and down the street. A reasonable person would have concluded that someone was having a Holiday party, perhaps even gone in search of the party. If he had done so, we would have offered him a drink of wassail and some solidarity soup. He did not. He is a mean-spirited man.

-------Second, it is a sad tale that our police officers are lacking in knowledge about such mundane tasks as towing a car. Our police officers obviously need a refresher course about the city ordinances.

-------Thirdly, it is time that Youngstown Municipal Ordinances be respected by not only the citizens but the police force and those in positions of authority. Our city council is not just a bunch of people getting together to play a game called, "lets make some rules", and if we want people to come into our city to visit, we must make certain that they are not only protected from criminals, but that our police officers follow the laws as well. As Hazel says, "You can't give in to hopelessness. We'll never win. We need to dance, we need to sing, and rebuild hope together." She may be nuts, but she's got Moxie in her soul as do all who continue to fight and defend Youngstown.

Friday, December 14, 2007

This morning I awoke and as usual had my coffee and read the blogs. In my perusal I came across Chris Varley's Economic Development Blog where he highlights the Akron Beacon Journal's report on a sludge plant in Akron. The plant converts sewage sludge into bio fuel to be used as power for an electric generator. Akron Water Pollution Control Administrator Brian Gresser is quoted in the Akron Beacon Journal, as saying, "We are taking our brown and turning it into Green" (I love that-;). Akron's Mayor Don Plusequellic said ,"the green energy project makes a positive out of a negative and that it will save taxpayers a good deal of money... and be good for the environment. " The article goes on to say that the city and its partner a corporation named KB Compost Services Inc. held a press conference to show off the new $7 million facility at the city's composting plant off Riverview Road. The entire story can be read at Ohio.com.

Now, you may be asking yourself, where is she going with this? Well, I'm jealous! I confess. Others may be jealous of people, I'm jealous of development in other cities, positively green with it! I was at a board meeting the other night of Treez Please, Youngstown's organization dedicated to urban reforestation, and the very subject of sewage sludge came up. Now I admit, I'm not all that knowledgeable about sludge, but when I saw the article in the Akron Beacon Journal today, I said "Damn! would you look at that, they are actually doing it". How wonderful...ohhh...I can feel my face turning pale green even as I type this.

Then yesterday I was in Warren when overcome by the green monster. They have put in a wonderful ice skating rink in Courthouse Square. I want one of those too. In fact, I think it should be included in the plans for the revitalization of Wick Park. I'll save that discussion for another day.

But now I say to myself," Enough of your green jealousy, this taint must be sublimated!." My question is how? I know that Y-towners must work harder and keep pushing, but I'm looking for tangible suggestions. For example, exactly, how do ideas such as a sludge plant get implemented? Would it start with a resolution such as the one between Summit County and KB Compost? What is the most effective way to move good ideas forward. Please comment and advise before I'm eaten alive by the green monster.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Typically, my subject matter is a bit on the serious side, but today I'm departing from that . I woke up this morning and read Shout Youngstown and learned that Matt Palka has entered a contest where the prize is a recording contract and $25,000. Several weeks ago I went to the Mahoning Commons Holiday Open Studio and Sale and as I wandered down the halls of the Ward Bakery Building I heard guitar and singing, I felt compelled to follow it to its source. I didn't recognize the young man playing guitar and singing, but I couldn't walk away. While I stood there listening, I noticed a stack of books on a table. Being a bibliophile, I had to check them out. The title of the book was " A Moment in the Sun". It is the story of a young man whose parents started pressuring him to work in the family fudge store after he graduated from college. The main character Riley Holiday decided he wanted no part of this, bought a bicycle, and took off on a solo cross-country trip from Ohio to California. He lived on $600.00 and a guitar, slept in homeless shelters, parks and anywhere he could find to pitch his tent. As I stood there reading, I noticed that the book came with a CD. A young woman behind the table recognizing a potential sale when she saw one, informed me that the author of the book and the musician playing were one and the same. I of course said I would buy one if I could have it signed. When Matt completed the song he was performing he came over to where I was and he explained that he has been doing a cross country tour in a VW bus. I looked at the photo of the VW and asked him if the prior owner had also given him the book "How to Keep your Volkswagon Alive". Turns out that he did. I only know of this book as long ago we had one of those VW buses, and thank God we also had a copy of that book, albiet a far older printing than what is currently available. I write of all of this to encourage you to vote for Matt's video by going to Star 98. 7. Let's support our local musicians and artists! they are some of the best. Thanks.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Last night I was catching up on my Y-town blog reading. Up for discussion this past week was the recent Vindicator story about the Congressional Quarterly stats which place Youngstown as the 15th most dangerous city in the US and the 4th most dangerous city in those that have populations of 75,000 to 99,000.

Defend Youngstown ,discussed the Vindy.com message board and the thoughts of area residents about the crime stats. The message board confirmed what I already knew. Youngstown citizens are highly frustrated. Youngstown Renaissance asked the question, "Is how we feel about crime based on what happens around us and affects us directly or is it a vague sense of unease created by headlines and national reports?" Both writers call for us to think about the subject of crime objectively. I agree.

I understand the tizzy that many in the city succumb to. I live in the city, and I too saw the stories reported within days of the CQ Report; one about a home invasion and the other about an assault with a gun against a couple on the Northside. The reason that the two incidents created such a buzz is because they appeared to be random crimes. Here in the city we often hear about drive by shootings and murder. We tend to comfort ourselves with the knowledge that generally the perp and the victim knew each other, or that they were involved in some type of drug activity. Even when an innocent victim is caught up in the gunfire, as awful as it is, we tend to think that the victim was in someway connected to either gangs or drug activity and somehow that is alright. This thought process itself perpetuates racism and classism, and the cycle of violence. I will discuss this a bit later. But back to my point, when crime happens to your neighbor, or someone who lives on the same street as you, it gets frightening, this is true for everyone.

Our fear motivates us to change our behavior. We tend to become more observant, we start to watch for the man in the dark clothing with the gun that could grab us as we get out of our car in the driveway at night, or worse yet, if we are middle class, we decide it is time to move to the burbs where it is perceived as safe. It is by virtue of the fact that fear is an emotional response, that we must look at the crime problem from an objective point of view, otherwise the problem feeds racism, urban flight, suburban sprawl, and causes untold pain to families and victims.

Before addressing the issue of racism, classism, and urban flight however, I would like to suggest that our city officials consider a program that I came across several years ago when I was thinking about ways to reduce crime in Youngstown. The name of the program that I came across is called Citistat . Many of you may have heard me speak about this program in the past, and I raise the idea yet again because I believe it could work here. The program is one that was adapted from CompStat which was a program created by the New York City Police Department. CitiStat is a program about personal accountability. It is a computer database system that allows a city to regularly review every aspect of its city government. It serves as a transparent accountability and management tool through which the city can collect and thoroughly analyze data on an array of issues, police, fire, streets etc. It isn't complicated. It allows the Mayor to run the city more efficiently. Baltimore paid $20,000 in off the counter software for their system. In Baltimore in fiscal year 2001 the impact that CitiStat had on the Budget resulted in a savings of over $13 million, mostly the result of lower operational costs, increased revenue streams, and the termination of costly and inconsistent initiatives. It is a results based system of government. CitiStat promotes four tenets:

The foundation of the system is bi-weekly meetings between the Mayor and the head of each city agency. Each department head answers questions from a panel led by the mayor or his appointed delegate. The questions are culled from Citistat's statistical analyses of the agency's previous two week performance. The program is not about dispensing blame but rather to generate accountability and problem solving efforts to produce quick effective results. The program improves service delivery a great deal, and the citizens of the community can see the improvement by viewing the results of Citistat on a city website. This creates a win/win situation, the city workers benefit from an improved image and fewer complaints; citizens win because there is increased governmental transparency, better service, and less crime.

If such a system were implemented I believe that it would stanch the flow of people to the suburbs. The social ills associated with inner city neighborhoods real or imagined, have become associated with with cities in general, and blacks in particular. I have often expressed the view that the underlying problem in the Youngstown area is two-fold; racism and classism. The social ills of crime and poverty are seen not as a problem of the system or culture that we live in, but rather are associated with black people. This leads to devaluation of the lives of black people, and as I previously mentioned it also leads to urban flight, suburban sprawl, increased racial tension, and ultimately full circle to increased crime.

White America is largely suburban America, 71% of whites live in what they describe as the suburbs, only 39% of black America live in the suburbs. Black America is largely an urban nation. Sheryll Cashin explores this fact in her book, The Failures of Integration: How Race and Class are undermining the American Dream" . She states, " In the code of our unspoken understandings, 'urban' means black. For many it also means crime and bad schools. This separation of life spaces fuels misunderstandings. To continue she says, "the most enduring invisible cost is the gulf between Americans who live far from the reality of the ghetto and those who live in it."

Racism is not only a belief that race is a primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. It is also an attitude, which subordinates a person or group because of their race. Class too is an attitude. In Youngstown race is inextricably intertwined with class, which is defined as a discriminatory attitude based on distinctions made between social and economic classes. Attitudes about race and class must be addressed in conjunction with the implementation of a program such as CitiStat if we are to begin to make the changes needed in order to create a vital, sustainable city. The loss of citizens to suburban sprawl is not good for our city or for our planet. Steering growth to the urban core produces numerous benefits; It saves millions in public resources by building on existing infrastructure rather than sinking funds into new roads, sewers, and utility lines. It makes cities more vibrant and attractive, reduces carbon emissions and it makes the centers of job growth more accessible to the urban poor.

Currently separatism fosters a narrow conception of self interest that blinds our citizens to the benefits of building alliances with people different than ourselves.." I agree with Cashin when she states, "I have come to the conclusion that cultivating race and class integration... and building coalitions of enlightened self interest across boundaries of homogeneity is the only route to creating the kind of fully democratic society we imagine our very diverse country to be. Integration is critical to the enduring strength of our democracy."

As "Generation Next" stated per "Defend Youngstown" blog, "Now we live in a global economy and we still fight. This is why we don't have time for fighting any longer." To this I would add, we do not have time for racism and classism in Youngstown any longer, it is time to begin to re-create the city and in order to pursue an alternative vision of the city, we must change our mind set and an open our hearts.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Welcome to my new blog. I'm excited and a bit nervous. My goal in writing is to create a space for "dialogue with respect" as Paulo Freire has said. I mention the educational theorist here because his ideas have influenced my thinking about liberation and education. As a lawyer, I believe that liberty must be protected at all costs, and the way that is accomplished is through education. It is through dialogue that we often learn most effectively. Freire believed that dialogue wasn't just about deepening understanding, but that it was a part of making a difference in the world. He was concerned with praxis (action that is informed). Dialogue is a cooperative activity, it builds community, social capital ,and leads us to action for justice and equality. Please join me in a dialogue about the creation of community, and social capital in the city of Youngstown.

I would like to begin by talking about activism and how excitement is contagious. I have only met Jim Cossler, Youngstown's chief evangelist once or twice. The first time was at a brainstorming session at the Youngstown Incubator. It was a vitalizing experience. I was struck by his insistence that we need to dream large. The meme is catching on here in Youngstown. Things are beginning to happen at an exponential rate. As the meme spreads what I find happening is that people are smiling again, there is hope, and people want to be involved. Not only does activism bring about positive change, it is fun!

Treez Please is a recent example of activism and fun in Youngstown. This past summer several of us got together over drinks to talk about planting trees. That idea has transformed into the creation of a non-profit group that is growing quickly and more importantly bringing ideas to fruition. So far we have designed and implemented a project now called "Common Ground" which is at the corner of Broadway and Kensington, and we have celebrated that accomplishment with a community event. Please see our website for information and a link to Jaci Clark's blogto see fabulous photos of the celebration.

The idea of planting trees has given birth to numerous other ideas and projects and the dream is getting larger. Recently I had a conversation Phil Kidd, and he spoke with me about his idea for revitalizing Wick Park. He outlined his vision of Wick Park as a jewel of the city. We also spoke about how this project can serve as a model for city wide collaboration. Today, the story is in the Vindcator http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/290243434026436.php.

Today however, I want to focus on another idea that is becoming an obsession with me, and one that I would very much like to see come to fruition. Many things trigger my obsession with this idea but what triggered it today was was reading the November 7, 2007 entry on the blog "I will Shout Youngstown". The article prompted me to share my thoughts about the creation of a green belt to be developed simultaneously with our new and burgeoning tech belt. For some interesting thoughts about the development of a regional tech belt see http://linkonavenue.blogspot.com/2007/10/transforming-rust-belt-into-tech-belt.html

Some time ago I became a Majora Carter groupie. I came across her story when I was researching a project on environmentalism and found a link to the Ted Awards. I was soon enthralled in the Ted Award concept and found a video of Majora Carter accepting the award. Her dream is to green the ghetto in the South Bronx. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/video_majora_ca.php Although may of her ideas are specifically for a much larger urban area than Youngstown, I do believe that her proposal for an Eco Industrial Park could be modified for the Youngstown area. For a complete reading of her proposal see: http://www.ssbx.org/documents/SSBxEco-IndustrialFullFeasabilityStudy.pdf A few of her ideas for an Eco-Industrial Park are below. In Youngstown an Eco-Industrial Park such as this could be the cornerstone of the development of "The Green Belt", and would provide much needed employment in green collar jobs. I would be interested in thoughts from others in the area about the concept and how it might be modified for this area.

Facilities at the eco-industrial park would include:# a construction and demolition (C&D) debris recycling facility# a plastics product manufacturer which would produce railroad ties using mixed plastic waste materials from post-industrial and post-consumer sources, provide the city’s recycling processors with a convenient market for mixed plastics in the city’s current recycling stream,# a paper converting operation which would convert one-ton “parent rolls” of 100% recycled-content paper into individually-wrapped, consumer-sized rolls and packages of tissues and towel products for sale under possible supply contracts with the federal government and major commercial and institutional buyers# a wood salvage and re-milling operation which would sort heavy and antique timber, beams, joists,shoring lumber and plywood salvaged from demolished buildings and construction sites by dimensions and species, would wholesale about half to lumber mills and timber framing companies, would retail about one quarter to highway construction, bridge refurbishing, and other contractors, would re-mill the rest into dimensional lumber and blanks for architectural and fine carpentry applications.# a glass powder manufacturing facility which would process tons of mixed glass cullet andcontainer glass from the city’s recycling program into a valuable “green” building material, namely a clean, dry “glass powder” that can replace up to 40% of the Portland cement used in making concrete masonry blocks and ready-mix concrete.# a small non-profit facility with educational exhibition space about recycling, re-use, and re-manufacturing and incubator space for craftspeople designing artworks or products made from recycled materials, a small cafe and the possible inclusion of a child-care facility for children of the employees.

Debra Weaver is an Attorney in Youngstown, Ohio. She is a long time resident, activist, and proud tree hugger. She loves the city and believes that the citizens of Youngstown can co-create a vital, sustainable city for ourselves and future generations.